Talk:Dāsya Bhāva: Being a Servant or Slave of Bhagavān

By Vishal Agarwal

In this relationship, the bhakta regards himself as a humble and loyal servant of Bhagavān—or as an employee of the Divine Boss. He regards the divine scriptures as the command of the Lord and follows them as scrupulously as possible. The bhakta regards Bhagavān as the Master or the Emperor of the Universe, and himself as a loyal subject. This relationship is marked by treating Bhagavān as a superior entity to oneself, and one in which the bhakta can never be equal to Bhagavān. He is dependent on Bhagavān. He does not care for any worldly reward in return for doing the work of Bhagavān. All he desires is divine grace, mercy, and pleasure.

A modern scholar explains:

“Serving and worshipping the Deities in temples, sweeping the temples, meditating on God and mentally serving Him, serving the saints and sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people who are forms of God is included in Dāsya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dāsya Bhakti is to be ever with God to offer service to Him and win His Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality. It means total dedication of the self to God…”

The Veda-s as well as later scriptures contain expressions of this mode of rāgānugā bhakti:

Varuṇa, I will render pure service to you like a slave. Ṛgveda 8.86.7

O Agni, I am your servant like those who serve rich men. Ṛgveda 1.150.1

Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, perform your worship to Me, make reverence to Me. Thus, having disciplined yourself in Yoga, with Me as your Supreme Goal, you shall indeed come to Me. Gītā 9.34

Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and make reverence (bow) to Me. In this way, you shall truly come to Me. I promise you because you are dear to Me. Gītā 18.65

As long as a man has not dedicated himself to You as Your servant, passions confront him as thieves; home confines him as a prison; and infatuation binds him as fetters. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.14.36

Whatever is done according to one’s natural capacity by one’s body, words, mind, senses, buddhi, and the soul – all that should be dedicated to Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Being. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.2.36

Sometimes, this mode of bhakti is considered inferior to other varieties because a ‘Master–Servant’ relationship always has the element of formality and is not as intimate as some other relationships. An example of this bhāva is the bhakti of Hanumān, who did great deeds for Śrī Rāma as His faithful servant. As Hanumān is considered an ideal bhakta, it would be wrong to state that this is necessarily an inferior bhāva of bhakti. However, if this bhāva is characterized by fear for Bhagavān (e.g., "If I do not do His work, He will get angry with me"), then it becomes an inferior bhāva because a true bhakta loves Bhagavān and is not scared of Him.

In other words, the perfect way of practicing Dāsya Bhāva Bhakti is to serve the Lord dutifully and earnestly out of love for Him—not out of fear. In Islam, Dāsya Bhāva is dominated by the fear of Allah and His hellfire. From a Hindu perspective, therefore, Islamic bhakti is not a healthy emotion and is of an inferior type. The same is true of other Abrahamic formulations where hellfire and wrath of the Lord are used to demand submission of human beings.

Hanumān – The Ideal Dāsya Bhakta

Bhagavān Hanumān is the best bhakta of Bhagavān Rāma. Sītā, the wife of Rāma, was kidnapped by an evil king named Rāvaṇa. Hanumān had a lot of buddhi and he helped Rāma find Sītā. With the help of Hanumān and others, Rāma then attacked the kingdom of Rāvaṇa and freed his wife. Hanumān is the true superman. Let us now read how Hanumān helped Bhagavān Rāma:

When Bhagavān Rāma and his brother Lakṣmaṇa were roaming in the forests to search for Sītā, they met Hanumān and Sugrīva. Sugrīva was the king of Vānara-s or monkeys. Sugrīva said, “Rāma, one of my vānara-s found this bag of jewels. He told me that a demon was carrying away a lady on a flying chariot. When the chariot flew over my kingdom, she threw this bag of jewels.”

When Rāma looked at the jewels, he immediately recognized that they belonged to his dear wife Sītā. Sugrīva offered to send search groups in all four directions to look for Sītā. Hanumān joined the group that went south.

At the southern tip of India, the search party met Sampaati. He told them, “Sītā was captured by Rāvaṇa and she is in Laṅkā.” Now, someone had to cross the ocean to reach the island of Laṅkā. Only Hanumān had the strength to do so.

So, Hanumān expanded his size till he became very large. Then, he jumped across the ocean from India and landed in Laṅkā. There, he took a very small form so that no one would see him, and started searching for Sītā. In a garden, he found a beautiful woman being guarded by several wicked rākṣasī-s.

“This must be Sītā,” he thought. As soon as he got a chance, he changed his form to the normal size. Then, he approached Sītā and gave her the ring of Rāma, saying, “Do not be scared, lady. Your husband Rāma has sent me. He will be here shortly to rescue you.” Sītā recognized the ring of Rāma. She was very relieved to hear her husband will now know where she has been imprisoned.

Before Hanumān left Laṅkā, he decided to teach Rāvaṇa a lesson. He uprooted the trees on the island and broke many other things. Then he allowed himself to be captured by the guards of Laṅkā and was brought before Rāvaṇa. While entering the palace, Hanumān made a mental map of all the paths and the size of the rooms—information that would be useful when Rāma invades Laṅkā.

Rāvaṇa was furious to learn that Hanumān was a messenger from Rāma. “Tie rags to his tail. Soak it in oil and set it on fire,” he ordered. When Hanumān’s tail started burning, everyone laughed and mocked him. But Hanumān suddenly reduced in size, freed himself from the chains, and fled the palace. Then, he jumped from one house to another and set the city on fire with his burning tail. Finally, he dipped his tail in the ocean to put out the fire.

Once again, Hanumān changed his form to a great size and jumped back across the ocean to India. Then, he and his party returned to Rāma with the good news: “Your wife Sītā is in Laṅkā. She is safe and waiting for you to come and rescue her!” He also described Laṅkā and what he had done there.

Rāma was very pleased. He embraced Hanumān and said:

“You are indeed very clever. Anyone who listens to your story will become clever too. This is My blessing.”